Sure, though the fired ones are much more resistant than naturally dried ones. The note was more about the fact that clay in different states (wet/fired/dried)

Sure, though the fired ones are much more resistant than naturally dried ones. The note was more about the fact that clay in different states (wet/fired/dried) has very different properties and that the parent comment was ignoring that. BTW the way a foundation may work (wooden piles in a wet clay substrate) is very different from how a vertical structure (pillar/wall) or a horizontal one (beam/deck/slab) behaves. In the case of the foundation, the wooden piles distribute the vertical forces through lateral adherence (as opposed to applying it directly to the top surface) over all the inserted length, and in the particular case of the tight grid used in old Venice buildings, the wooden poles act also as containment, they are also called "friction piles".